My game - Wizard Realms

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taggartm
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My game - Wizard Realms

Unread postby taggartm » 14 Nov 2008, 15:03

Hello all!
I've been coming here for Heroes news and maps for a long time and I've always wanted to make my own turn-based game.
I made a shareware game - Hostile Takeover - back in 1992 that had some success and it was neat getting letters in from all over the world from people who had played the game (this was pre internet days). I wanted to make the game better but it seemed impossible for one person to compete with big budget titles. So I just let the idea go for many years until - - I started playing Dicewars.

It's a simple flash based risk style game and it is totally fun to play for a quick 10-20 minute break. I do the web design for my day job and it got me to thinking that browsers and the javascript language have evolved to the point where you could make a game for the web that would run on any modern browser.

In May of this year I started working on Wizard Realms. It is a turn based strategy game - heroes style - with a fantasy setting. The game engine is mostly developed and I have the first playable map - Aztec Swarm.

In Aztec Swarm you have 2-3 mage knights and your goal is to shut down the Aztec Generators. You can play the game in about 20-30 minutes.

What I need right now is some people to play the game and let me know if they had any problems getting the game to run. There are many different browsers and operating systems and I want the game to run on most of them.

The link for the web site is www.wizardrealms.com
To go directly to the quick intro for the game go to
http://www.wizardrealms.com/overview/fa ... uction.php

Keep in mind the map is not finished yet. There are more game elements that need to be added and it need to be balanced.

Thank you so much for your help!
Michael

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wimfrits
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Unread postby wimfrits » 15 Nov 2008, 10:03

Nice work!
Things have improved a great deal since the last time I looked at the game. It is polished a lot more and has substantial strategic depth added, while the game should still be easy to learn.

It would be nice to see what other people think of that
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Kristo
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Unread postby Kristo » 15 Nov 2008, 18:33

Good job on this game. It's clear you spent a good deal of time on it. I like how it's important for your Mage Knights to work together so you don't get swarmed by Aztecs. Because your attacks are limited by movement (both on offense and defense), it's important to spread the xp between your players. Nice work. With that, I have a few comments/bugs to report.

1. When attacking, the target's health bar drops before you display the hit or block icon. It kinda ruins the suspense that way. Can you make the hit/block icon appear first, then change the health bar?

2. It's hard to tell distance on the map because it appears that you only move a half square at a time. Is there a reason you chose not to have every move be a full tile?

3. Occasionally at the beginning of a turn I got a screen offering me +1 to one of my knight's stats. It would be nice if it said something like "marker1 has gained a level" so I know why I'm boosting my stats for free.

4. Can you give the player's knights names other than markerX? I had a hard time remembering which one was #1 and #2. It's not as important for the bad guys, but for the player's pieces a real name would help.

5. I won the game rather easily because I could hit at longer range than any of the enemies, especially the generators. You get a huge stat bonus for destroying a generator, but they aren't dangerous because you can hit them without being hit back. The reward should be proportional to the danger. You can probably solve that by increasing the generator's range to a number equal to or greater than the mage knight's range.

6. The mana economy is excellent. I really like that you have to balance your upkeep with your ability to cast Heal and Sting. Do you have any plans for more spells? I think Slow and Haste would make good spells for this game.
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taggartm
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Unread postby taggartm » 16 Nov 2008, 01:26

1. Yes. In the code I'm adjusting the attribute and then calling the flickers to display the attack defense icons. I'll figure out a way to adjust the attribute after the flickers are shown.

2. Actually, the Mage Knights are 2x2 tile pieces. Each tile is 24 pixels. The generators are 3x3. I wanted the size of the piece to matter in the game. Example: your mage knight (2x2) is running from a Hydra (3x3). You see a gap in the trees and since you're 2x2 you run through. The Hydra is too big and can't follow. Example 2: Your 2x2 mage knight is in a dungeon. The walls are broken down and there are several 1x1 gaps. The dungeon has rats which are 1x1. They easily move through the walls and attack you as you have to go the long way around and figure out how to reach the rat generators.

3. Agreed - I'll work on the level up screen.

4. Agreed - I'll work on that too. My artist, Judi, is also thinking about creating a different icon for each mage knight. This will go a long way towards telling them apart and knowing what messages relate to which knight.

5. The game isn't balanced yet. There are still more game elements to create yet. The game has gone from way to hard to soft. The aztec generators are using the same weapons as the azetcs for now. They will soon get a lightening based defense and offense which should be slightly more powerful than the mage knights.

6. Yes - I want to create a spell that can temporarily give a piece extra movement. It's going to be expensive because movement can make or break the game.

Thanks a bunch for your feedback!!
Michael

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taggartm
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Unread postby taggartm » 22 Nov 2008, 17:55

I've made several changes to the game.

Generators are tougher now. They are much better than your starting mage knights. Overall the game is a bit better balance (although there are still more game elements to add).

The Make Knights now have names and different icons. I've used this in important places including the level up screen.

New spell to add extra movement to your pieces. It's very useful for getting that last hit to kill an enemy or travel a bit farther to get a bonus.

Sign posts in the game. - give new players starting tips on how to the play the game.

Much faster AI turns and overall faster game speed.

Check out the new changes and let me know what you like!!
Michael


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